A Woman or a Cat?
by Phantom Ange
Summary: After Haru reaches the exit she has to make a choice. Will she chance the leap of faith to her own world, or the one into the one creature she knows her heart belongs to? Rated T just to be safe.
1. Leap of Faith

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Cats Return in any way, shape or form. Though when I get a cat of my own it's going to be a sleek orange one named Baron. I would give him Baron's full title but I don't think it will fit on his collar tags. I do own the plot though so please don't steal or accuse me of stealing.

**Author's Note: **I was kinda disappointed after I finished watching The Cat's Return to find such a small fan fiction section for the movie when every other Miyazaki film has such large forums of its own. I'm glad almost every story is based on Haru and Baron's relationship though. That was the main reason I started looking for fan fiction, the ending was lacking the romance a G- rated film for children could give us older Miyazaki fans. So I decided to write my own and maybe encourage more readers to write Cat's Return stories to make the forum size grow. I'll start off with this one short piece and see where things go from here. Enjoy.

**Story Note: **This starts right after Muta launches Haru up onto the tower staircase so she can reach the exit while Baron , Muta and Prince Lune distract the Cat King. This is also the shortest chapter i've ever written in my life. The next one will be longer I promise.

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" Go ahead Haru i'll catch up." Baron reassured her and then turned to the fight to keep the Cat King from following Haru up the tower. She didn't want to leave Muta or Baron to deal with this alone. But she wouldn't be able to run down and help them then back up to the exit to make any of this worth all the trouble the Cat Bureau had gone to already.

The tower seemed to go on forever as Haru ran up the stairs while Muta and Baron distracted the Cat King and his guards. _All for me, why go to all this trouble for someone like me? _Haru stopped her descent and looked down, at the same time Baron looked up and their eyes met. The battle between Prince Lune and the Cat Kings guards raged on around the cat doll while he stared up at Haru with an expression that made her heart do a back flip.

A sudden sensation ran through Haru's cheeks and she reached up to find that her face now had a cats defined shape. It was the only thing she had been lacking, until now Haru had still had her human facial features to tell her apart from the other cats. Now Haru was a full cat and she had perhaps a few minutes left before it was permanent. She looked down at Baron in panic and he noticed the final change.

" Get to the exit Haru!" He yelled and she reacted immediately as Baron made his way up the stairs to meet up with her. The exit was a few steps away and Haru took them in one large jump as if it were a sprinting race. She lifted herself on the top of the tower and let a sigh of relief, she'd made it. Haru felt herself change back moments after she climbed through the towers exit. In comparison the ledge she was standing on became much smaller. She screamed.

" Haru!"

_Baron?_ Haru looked down to see the cat racing up the staircase in a rush to reach her in time.

" I'm coming Haru, hold on!"

Haru heard his panic and in her mind replayed the look on his face moments ago. That sadness.

A strong wind reminded Haru where she and she screamed, her footing began to slip. There was hundreds of feet between her and the city below with no where safe to land. Haru was sure now that she wouldn't survive this one and only adventure. It was either become a cat or die trying to escape that fate. Now was the time to make that leap of faith. All she had to do was to pick one of them.

Faces of the ones she loved flashed before her, the ones she'd never see again whether she died or became a cat. Among all this one thing repeated in her mind frantically and that one thing helped her decide. _I'll never see Baron again if I die. _

That one thought caused Haru to move forward and her feet to slip into instead of off the tower. Haru held her breath and hoped for a good landing

A few stories below the exit Baron gasped , his eyes widening in horror as he saw Haru come plummeting back down from the top. She shrank back down to cat size and her features were changing rapidly as she fell. But Baron only noticed that she was free falling ten stories without anyone to catch her.

Baron didn't think, he just leapt. Hat and cane clattered forgotten on the stairs and he attempted to snatch her out of the air and land on the other side of the tower to safety. At least that was the plan. Instead they collided in mid air and Haru wrapped herself around Baron instinctively as they continued to fall together.

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**Author's Note: **What do you think so far:grins: So I left you guys with a cliffhanger. And am I the only one who's started in the middle of the movie? I think the decision Haru has to make is the best time to play with the story line. I need some feedback before I continue. I love this story so much that this story is so easy to write I need some reviews before I can tell if I should continue though. So please read and review. 


	2. Leap of Love

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Cat's Return or Baron. : whimpers: No fair. But I do own the story line, no stealing please.

**Author's Note: **: Phantom Ange comes out in her 'Cat's Return Authoress's' shirt. : Yeah I have at least one other author wearing it, I hope some others will join in as well. We are such a small community that we have to stick together. I hope you all like this chapter and please don't kill me by the end of it.

**Attention to Jjah-Jjah: **I did know that 'Cat's Return' wasn't a Miyazaki film. But when I finished the first part of this story it was three in the morning and I just wanted to get the chapter posted. I also have a terrible habit of calling all Ghibli films Miyazaki films. I also didn't want to get out of bed to grab the movie box to put the directors name in. So I blame that on laziness at three in the morning. I just wanted people to know that I know my Miyazaki films.

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I'll be answering everyone's reviews in the next chapter I just wanted to make sure Jjah-Jjah new I wasn't being negligent on copyright. :grins: So make your reviews cool so I can answer back.

" Ahhhh..." Haru cried out in alarm when she realized who she'd latched onto. She immediately tried to fight out of his arms. " No Baron, you'll be hurt by the landing!" She said with tears in her eyes.

_Baron can't get hurt because of me! _ Without thinking Haru started beating her fists against his chest in an attempt to make Baron release her. She refused to be the cause of any harm coming to him. At least the pain she inflicted would be minor to the pain he'd endure trying to save her yet again.

Baron winced, gritting his teeth against Haru's onslaught even though the power behind it was fairly weak. While she tried to get free Baron noticed that Haru was lacking paws, instead her hands were more akin to his own.

" Nonsense, we'll be fine." Baron shouted over the howling wind in his ears as they fell . Haru continued to hammer her fists onto him, so Baron decided to stop her. Restraining both her wrists with one of his hands, while the other held her tight against his chest. " Haru, stop and look behind you."

It was hard to follow Baron's instructions when being forced against his shoulder gave her a perfect view of the fast approaching ground. There was only one flight left before they hit.

That's when a a furry, white blur sped past the two cats. it was the reason Baron had told her to look back.

" Muta!" She shouted. Haru had almost forgotten that Muta had been right behind her on the staircase.

The big, white cat landed firmly on his paws then slid across the ground just in time to be laying right underneath Baron and Haru.

They both landed on Muta's stomach and bounced once before coming to a final stop. it took a few more seconds before the world stopped spinning.

Haru took a deep breathe and sat up. She was met with Muta's angry glare as she sat perched on his round belly. Haru smiled sheepishly.

" Are you crazy kid, didn't you think jumping from that height could be dangerous? You could at least of used the stairs if you were gonna come back down!" Muta yelled. As usual his concern wasn't as veiled in his voice as it was in his expression, Haru blushed red, she must of given everyone a heart attack.

" Haru you jumped? I thought you fell." She heard Baron say in disbelief. Haru looked down and turned an even brighter shade of red. She was sitting on Baron's stomach as well. He was propped up on his elbows so his face hovered right underneath hers.

Haru's cat ears perked and then drooped, she forgot their present position when she saw Baron's expression. Once again it was full of that sadness. Maybe he wouldn't want her to stay, maybe he didn't care about her that way.

" I thought I was going to die if I didn't come back." Haru said with her head bowed, her eyes fixed on the buttons of Baron's immaculate tailcoat. There was a brief silence between the two before one of them spoke.

Baron's ears flattened a bit. " I believe i'm to blame for that." Haru looked at Baron as if he were crazy. " I had Toto waiting outside the exit in case something like this were to happen. You would have been completely safe if you'd jumped from the tower." He said, and this time it was Baron who wouldn't meet her gaze. " If I had told you ahead of time you wouldn't be stuck here as a cat now."

" No! That's not true!" Haru shouted angrily, cutting off whatever Baron was going to say.

" I would have come back even if I knew that before. I want to be a cat now. I have a ...a reason to stay." She chocked out.

Baron looked up and took a deep breathe. There were tears in Haru's eyes. She was trying her best to keep them in but she was failing miserably. Baron couldn't fault her for crying, she had gone through so much already that her bravery was obvious. He had never seen her so vulnerable before, all he wanted to do was hold her. One of the teardrops fell on Baron's cheek but he didn't seem to mind.

He managed to sit up with Haru still on top of him. She slid from his stomach to his lap and she didn't even notice. Her face was in her hands and she was trying to stop crying. Baron reached and moved Haru's hands away from her face. She blinked a few times and stared at him. Baron brushed the tears from her face with his thumb.

She looked so beautiful in that moment. Her eyes were still brimming with tears and they held such honest trust in their brown depths. Something else swam in the depths of Haru's eyes but Baron dared not name it in case he was wrong. _Let it be that. _Baron quietly prayed. _Just this once let it what I think it is. _

As Baron learned quickly, with Haru he didn't look before he leapt. This was no exception to that except it was more emotional then physical this time. He wouldn't let the fall frighten him.

" What possible reason could you have for staying Haru?" He asked silently.

He hadn't stopped caressing her face after he'd dried the tears from her fur and Haru smiled with watery eyes. She could say it now.

" Because..."

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**Author's Note: **: Phantom Ange ducks behind Muta immediately and whimpers: Don't hurt me, i'm just the author. I'm trying to write a good story and I have to leave the cliffies in to do that. Please review and tell me what you think and i'll the get the last chapter up quickly. 


	3. Leap of Courage

Disclaimer: I do not own Haru, Baron, Muta or any other character from 'The Cats Return'. Though sometimes I wish I could have Baron.

Author's Note: OMG! I don't know how two weeks worth of writers blocks turns into more then six months. None of my stories have been updated for ages and I haven't the foggiest why that is. I was on a writing role, I got a little block and started this story to hopefully relieve it. But then I ended up having problems with this one too. So I apologize for making everyone wait and hope you enjoy this chapter. The original accidently got erased so I had to rewrite it.

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" Because... I can't imagine never seeing you again!" 

Haru felt the tears come again as soon as the words left her mouth and this time she didn't bother hiding them. She was stalling and she knew it. How foolish was that.

Baron's eyes had widened slightly, yet it didn't seem to be the answer he had expected. And it definitely wasn't the answer Haru had meant to give.

She was ready to tell him, she wanted to tell him. But how could she say this without sounding like a child? Like the child she had sounded like all through this ordeal.

Haru remembered all the romantic movies she and Hiromi had watched throughout their highschool years. Where the woman throws herself into the mans arms and confessed her undying love. They alwasy made it look so simple. But no where in those films had the woman turned into a cat, plummeted ten stories in the arms of a living cat doll and then confessed her love to him. Haru was on her own with this.

_Come on, come on. Don't blank out now. _She thought frantically.

"Haru..."

She was startled back to the present by Baron's voice and the feeling of his gentle touch on her cheek.

Haru looked into his intense blue cats eyes and felt a strange physical tug that she had felt more then once on her journey with Baron through the cat kingdom.

She thought of the times where that physical tug had been the strongest. When Baron had danced with her in the Cat King's ballroom, being carried in his arms up the tower staircase and when she had seen that sad look of goodbye before she had almost made it home.

Baron's eyes were searching now as he spoke.

" Haru...is that what you really meant to say?"

Haru quickly shook her head .

" No."

Haru couldn't much explain the physical tug let alone know how to express it. All she knew was she wanted to be near him. Some color came to her cheeks when she realized at this point she couldn't get much closer to Baron then she already was.

Baron waited for Haru to find her voice, he refused to push her.

He had told Haru that she should keep hold of who she was. But now here she was before him, not akin to who she once was or the cats around them. For some unexplainable reason the only creature she could claim any likeness to in any way was Baron himself. Her body had stayed that of a woman's, but her face had stayed somewhere between that of a cat and a woman. Her own individuality that set her apart. He would wait for her.

Haru came out of her own confusion to look once more at the cat she was still sitting on. He had waited patiently for her speak, his eyes never leaving her face. His smile encouraging. As if he knew how hard it was for her to express what she wanted to say.

The tugging became all most a full force yank. And for some reason those movies she and Hiromi watched came back to her again. She finally let her mind run through one to see why it kept tugging at her like that. And then suddenly she knew why. She wouldn't have to say anything at all to Baron, there was another way. Haru couldn't help but smile.

Baron looked confused for a moment by Haru's expression and she didn't mind. It gave her back that courage she needed.

Before the cat doll could even prepare himself, Haru had wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his. The silent and desperate message Haru was trying to communicate to Baron succeeded and gave a suprising jolt to his heart. It didn't take long for his mind to quickly kick back into gear and let him react.

Baron's wrapped his arms around the small of Haru's back and brought her closer. When he gently tilted her head to the side so he could deepen the kiss he couldn't help but smile when Haru began to purr unconsciously.

Haru could feel electricity flow through the kiss and through her body. All the way to the tip of her tail. _Wow, there's feeling there too! _She thought with a giggle. The kiss was a heady feeling she didn't want to quit feeling anytime soon. She finally understood what all the fuss was about.

Baron and Haru were totally oblivious to the world around them and would of happily stayed that way. But they were rudely interrupted a few seconds later by a very angry voice.

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Author's Note: Your all going to kill me I know it. Eight months and all I give is another cliffie. But guess what? The last chapter is written, so i'm just waiting to let everyone know i'm back and that i'm not leaving till the stories done. So please review and tell me what you think. I love you all so please don't bring pointing things to your reviews, i'm allergic to weaponry when it's being used against me. :grins: 


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